I am anxious for your reactions :) I think I too often fall into the "Maka is a crybaby mess for Soul" trope, but she's totally a badass at the same time, so I tried to give her a little more bad-bitch energy this chapter. Enjoy!
Kim hated the jingle of that bell when it was this close to closing time but the face in the doorway wasn't some annoying old biddy but Maka, not to mention a Maka-sans-Soul which seemed like an absurd combination that would be comical if it didn't strike a sudden fear in her heart.
"Where's Soul?" Maka ordered without even a hello and Kim wondered how she had stolen the words right out of her mouth.
"I was going to ask you the same thing," Kim blinked at her.
None of the bravado Maka walked in with even threatened to crumble as she walked towards the counter. "If Black Star sent me on some stupid goose-chase I'm going to kill him, so don't play with me, Kim. Where is he going?"
Kim's lip crinkled as she continued to contemplate pinching herself. Maka did look like she was on the verge of killing someone, a joke for normies but for them, well, it was a possibility and it was starting to hit her that this wasn't the girl Soul had dragged in here for cake. "Back up, he's not with you, he's out with Black Star?"
"Yes," Maka snapped. "Soul's going back in."
"What?" Every last ounce of breath came out of Kim's mouth to force that word to an octave that she'd never heard from herself. "That's… no, absolutely not."
"Yes," and there wasn't a bat of Maka's eyes or a smile to dissolve the truth in that statement.
"Hold the hell on." Kim scattered papers under the counter until she came to her cellphone. She scrolled through the contacts to Black Star and hit the call button. Each ring felt like another squeeze on her heart.
"Maka there?"
A hell of a question that almost sent Kim back on her ass. "What the hell is happening?"
"Listen to her. Help her out if you think you can. Our ETA is thirty, so see if you can meet us there." As if any of that made sense, the addition of the deadline sent Kim into a tizzy.
"What the fuck is happening?" Kim pondered at her phone before turning her eyes back to a still very determined-looking Maka, hands now planted on her hips. "Look, you're telling me Soul went out with Black Star tonight to do a job or you think just to hang. This is important, so think hard."
"I don't know," the bravery in that statement was tenuous and about to snap. "I think just hanging. It didn't sound like he had something to do, just wanted to get away."
"So the pit." Kim looked Maka up and down before sighing at her phone. "Give me a second." Again, Kim was scrolling until she hit Kilik. This thankfully only took half the amount of rings, leaving Kim with a touch more sanity than before.
"What's up?" Kilik intoned with his regular enthusiasm.
"You with the boss?"
"No…" Kilik started to curl that into a question. "Kim, you good?"
"No, I'm not good," Kim huffed. "Soul's back in."
"Says who?" The squeak of incredulity would have been funny to Kim if the topic at hand wasn't a travesty.
"His girlfriend, the blond from the club." Kim made sure to gauge Maka's face as that came out of her mouth, that dip in her stomach feeling worse as the blond's face betrayed her with a quiver of her lip.
"Aw, fuck," Kilik groaned. "We all said-"
"Yeah, I know. If Soul could make it… but I guess not." Kim ground her teeth long enough to take another appraising look at Maka. "Or maybe I'm being too pessimistic for my own good. Look, are you at the pit?"
"Yeah…"
"OK, leave. Find the boss. Play keep away. She's not to come back to the pit for any reason. Can you do that?"
"Of course I can, unless someone gets the word out that Soul's home-"
"If we get there at just about the same time, I think I can beat the news." Kim was already running numbers in her head, ETA thirty, and I have to get this girl ready. "If she hears, try telling her playing hard to get is just going to hurt him more. Keeping Soul lonely is a much better game to play. Something like that, Kilik, I don't know. Just keep her away and if you can't, call, text, blow up my phone so that I know."
"Kim, what are you…?"
"I think we're busting Soul out," Kim laughed before hazarding another glance at Maka. "Gotta go. Keep your end up." Kim hung up with the reply, starting another scroll.
"Kim-" Maka started but Kim held up a finger, pressing the phone back to her ear.
More comfort came with the quickest pick-up yet. "Babe, if you tell me that you're going to be late tonight-"
Kim grinned, "Jackie, I am going to be late, but I need you to meet me, bring a few things."
"What are you up to?" Jackie sounded barely amused but that didn't kill Kim's smile.
"Some of your clothes, full bad bitch outfit, and that stupid hair chalk that we still have from Halloween. I think the purple."
"Kimial Deihl, what are you doing?"
"Please, babe, you'll see, and I think you might just have some fun."
Soul was split down the middle. On one side, this was home, what he was used to and standing against the wall as other inked members wandered to and fro should have been calming monotony at the least. On the other, it was misery, everything empty because every person he spoke to, every laugh he tried to have was all a betrayal of the world he wanted. Enjoying this meant losing his family, his job, her. Like she was yours to lose in the first place.
In the hazy mirage of his pain, he saw Maka enter the room. His mind altered her to make her fit in the picture, painting purple over the blond that was tied tightly into two braids and dressing her in tight black jeans, combat boots, and an undersized white tank top that made all of him ache to run his fingers along the toned stomach it left exposed. Her green eyes glowed even in the low light of the room and when they met his he fell powerless as they flashed with that same old determination, a ghost haunting him from that first night he drove her home. He ran his hand over his face to wipe the fantasy away but as he focused back she was still there and Kim was suddenly beside her and whispering in her ear.
His heart was alive, clamoring for space in his chest where there was none to be had. Frozen was the best he could do even with his mind screaming to grab her and run. There was no running from her even with her slow glide across the room. She didn't draw any attention, not making noise or fuss, just walking with driven confidence. He tried to utter her name but there was no air in his lungs especially as she slipped into his personal space, that same old hand coming to his chest that felt like anything but ordinary.
"Flirt with me," she murmured just barely loud enough to hear.
"Why?" he croaked.
"So you have an excuse to take me somewhere to talk instead of out in the open." Even though he was sure he couldn't feel more unnerved, her eyes sat steadily on his.
His hand was slow, just touching the end strands of her braid and trying not to think about how it felt to tangle his fingers in her hair. The idea of playing a part was choking him but he managed to mutter, "The hair's cute. Honestly think it's best down though, the way it frames your face." For a second he saw the start of her eyes watering before she stiffened her lip with a smile. Why should it hurt you? Why should playing a game with emotions hurt you when that's all you've done?
"Do you like the color?"
"Now you're just fishing for compliments," he produced a low chuckle as he flicked the braid over her shoulder. "Next you'll want me to say how it makes your eyes shine…" He ran a finger along her jaw before he let it trail down her neck and across her collarbone. "Or how much this body you keep hidden should be anything but. Who knew you had curves?" He tried to make his voice just as playful as his fingers as they settled on her waist, pulling her a step closer. "Is that enough?"
"Take me somewhere," her voice cooed in that bedroom style but her eyes were anything but, that hurt still lingering there as if he'd just spent the last few sentences insulting her. Somewhere was a hard request, the pit being nothing more extravagant than an abandoned warehouse but he hooked an arm around her waist and led her through the crowd. No eyes followed because Maka had set the right stage, the two of them looking like nothing more than hook-up searching for a spot. A heavy metal door squealed as he pushed it, bringing her through to stand on the ledge of a platform. Soul closed the door behind them before hopping off the edge to the concrete below. They'd reached where the trucks used to dock and Soul found the night air relief from the stale, overly human smell of the warehouse itself.
Without much thought he offered his arms up to her, steadying her at the waist as she hopped down. There it was, the crushing wave in him to cave, to keep his hands planting on her hips and press her against the building to beg. Where are your fucking principles? Your fucking pride? You're ready to ask her to take you, regardless of what she really feels, just to be had. Pathetic. That noise in his head made his hands tremble off her waist and take a step back. "Why did you come here?"
"I told you, we needed to talk. Instead, you stormed out." Soul couldn't believe what he was seeing, the indignation, the fury in her eyes as she put her hands to her hips.
His fingers tightened into fists. "What you're trying to pull right now is-"
"Dangerous," she hissed over him. "I know. I'm not stupid, but what choice did you leave me?"
"What choice?" he spat back, "The same one you made the other night. To run. To forget about what we had because you don't want me for what I really am. You're just like every other girl trying to chase me for the thrill of it all, not because you could actually love me."
"Thrill?" Maka looked around, motioning to the dilapidated building. "You think I'm enjoying this? You think this gets me off? I wouldn't be here if I didn't still care about you, if I didn't think…" She couldn't finish that sentence, that fight squashing her heart and stealing her breath. Instead, she went with what she practiced in her head on the car ride over, "Franken warned us, told us to think with our head, not our heart, and you're not doing that. One setback and you're ready to throw everything away. You know you can't go back to Medusa."
"One setback?" His fists shook as his muscles tightened. "You think what happened to us feels like one fucking little setback? Like I forgot the sugar in a cake or didn't set my alarm and not like you ripped my heart out through my fucking guts?"
"I didn't say it was little." Her hand was reaching for him but he batted it away, taking another step back to be out of her reach. "But tell me that you're thinking with your head. Tell me and I'll leave right now."
"Of course I am," he snapped back. "I'm not made to be part of that world out there and it's just a matter of time before it all comes crumbling down. I'm just making the smart choice and speeding up the process. It's better than taking it slow and letting people get hurt in the process."
With a new kind of terror, he watched the switch flip in her face, a fury narrowing her eyes and forcing her feet forward to grab at him. "You're not hurting people? Maybe you don't care about me anymore but Marie? Shelley? And you being out gave Kim and Kilik hope, do you not even realize that? You gave them a reason to think it was possible to leave, to start something new, but now you're back with your tail between your legs-"
"I'm not back because I'm afraid," he hissed through clenched teeth.
"That's exactly what you are!" Maka's fingers strained into his skin and the next shout was almost from her lips when he pressed a firm hand to them, pushing her back into the concrete as he shook his head sharply. In the new silence, there were footsteps, the clang of the door.
His hand slipped from her mouth and slid back across her cheek. "Play your part and give me a kiss goodbye, Maka." Everything in him wanted this to taste like nothing more than ash in his mouth, or even better to have her refuse him that final time. Instead, her fingers softly came to his cheeks, pulling his lips to hers not like some lurid act that the spot might suggest but infused with a tenderness actually fitting of a goodbye.
It was Black Star that ambled out from the darkness, hopping down the ledge just as Maka started to pull away, Soul fighting the want and hope. "Break it up, lovebirds. Boss is on her way. Take her home, Soul."
Soul's eyes were slow to open, his jaw already pulling tight. "No. You take her. I'm staying."
Black Star was sure he hadn't been drinking and only imagined seeing a reunion but as soon as the words came from Soul's mouth Maka grabbed onto Black Star's arm. "Take me home, please."
"You…" Black Star blinked between the two of them. "What the fuck are you doing, Soul?"
"Telling you to get her the fuck out of here." Soul started the climb back up, leaving Black Star and Maka below.
Black Star brought his stare powerlessly back to Maka who seemed to be enamored with what was happening on the floor. Since Kim had been anything but half-assed about her warning, Black Star knew there was no time for bullshit let alone this, so he grabbed Maka's hand off his arm and urged her into the darkness.
Silence was out of the ordinary for Black Star but Maka could barely register it, her mind racing through what felt like anything but a victory. Soul was staying, regardless of the way she let it all go to kiss him, not a second's worth of bitterness but only all the longing for him that she could muster. She hadn't been thinking about the cheating or the broiling anger that they shared but the day he cried in her arms, the way it felt to clear his hair from his face and receive a smile in return, or how he spun her across the floor without a second thought. If all that love from her lips couldn't convince him, nothing would.
The car slowed in front of the apartment building but just as Maka reached for the door Black Star hit the lock again, the click making her jump in the seat. His hand slammed across her, his fingers tight over the lock as his breath hit her cheek hotly. "So, you like dangerous guys or dangerous situations? Which one gets you off?"
"Let me go," Maka growled as she put her hand over his on the mechanism.
Under hers, his hand smashed against the door with a crack. "Nah, this is what you're into, isn't it? It's a thrill, right?"
"Get out of my face." She pressed a firm hand into his chest but found him immovable, giving her no space to breathe in a car that already felt too small.
"You tryin' to tell me it's something different?" He tilted his head quizzically as it brought his lips closer. "So you didn't try to fuck Soul just for the rush? Because I promise you, he's a powder puff compared to me."
All of the blood drained from her face. "That's none of your business."
"Because let me tell you something about Soul." His hand pounded again, this time sending a jolt of fear down her spine. "When he started up with me in the organization, I told him it wasn't for him. Not that he wasn't tough, not that he wasn't good at what he did, but because that wasn't ever what he wanted. Eater was lonely. He didn't want fame, he didn't want the money, he wanted somewhere to belong, to find love, and I'm sorry, petty gangsters aren't into love." The crack of his palm sounded again and Maka desperately fought against the tears. "So I encouraged him, go ahead and go back to Soul Evans. Go ahead and work out things with that cute blond girl at work because fuck, could he not stop talking about you. And just when he thought he was finally going to get that love that he always wanted, you pull the rug right out from underneath him."
"What?" All she should have been feeling was terror but when the disappointment blossomed in his eyes it started to recede.
"All he ever wanted was just to hold your hand and all that stupid romantic bullshit you used to do. Even was so stupid to say he'd give up sex for it. But why am I repeating it? You were eavesdropping." Maka sucked in a quick breath, a blush finally giving color to her cheeks. "You should know nobody sneaks up on me."
"Did he know?"
"Nah, he sucks at that sort of thing." Black Star finally slipped his hand off the lock, giving her the option of freedom. He didn't relax his body, still leaning as close to her as possible without touching skin. "Which is why I assumed you were a heartless bitch and you'd take my bullshit advances. Lookin' at your face, though, tells me that it's option number three."
Maka took a shuddering breath, "Which is?"
"You're just as fucked up as he is," Black Star sighed. "But whatever you were thinking, whatever plan you had with that, it's wrong, so cut it out. You keep doing this to him and we're going to have this conversation again, and I won't be playing nice anymore."
Her hand at his chest clenched into his shirt. "Then why… why was he with someone else?"
"Huh?" Black Star's eyebrows shot up on his forehead as a weak laugh tumbled from his mouth. "You're kidding me, right? Soul? The guy gets laid like-" For once he had the sense to cut himself off, seeing those green eyes fill with tears. "Nah, that's not Soul."
"He only kissed me, touched me because he felt guilty," Maka murmured. "He was with someone else and then he came to me like he could wipe the slate clean…" She dropped her eyes, letting the tears find a new home on her cheeks. And I almost let him because I'm just like my mother.
Black Star blew out a slow breath as the hand from the door weakly came to her shoulder, his fingers patting gently. "I don't… that's not Soul, seriously. Did he tell you he did that or…?"
"There was lipstick on his shirt and he smelt like her." The memory of it ground in her gut and the bile hit the back of her throat.
A dumbfounded laugh bubbled out of Black Star's mouth as he shook her shoulder. "What fucking night was this?"
Maka was ready to snap at him as anger welled up that it didn't matter what night, and how the hell was it his business what night everything got ruined but as she raised her head to spit at him she saw the utter confusion on his face. "That night you called the bar, said you needed his help."
"No," Black Star shook his head and laughed. "No fucking way. He was with me. After we did the job we hung at the park to blow off some steam and then I dropped him off here."
"What was the job?" Maka urged.
"Nothing that got him anywhere near another girl, that's for sure," Black Star was still shaking his head with bewilderment. "Seriously, the only girl he saw the whole night was the boss…" His head tilted slowly to the side and Maka watched as pieces of a puzzle were arranging in his mind. "What was the smell?"
"Something sweet, too sweet like flowers about to rot," it was practically a whimper from her mouth as she called the memory back. "And it was dark purple, the lipstick. There were… scratch marks, too, on his neck near it."
All the baffled amusement fell from his face, a blink of his eyes bringing back that cold anger from before. "Listen to me," he shook her shoulder as if her attention could drift anywhere else. "You were one of the only things keeping him from coming back and the boss saw that. She used you fucking perfectly, just like always. I was with him the whole time, nothing happened, but she got close, close enough that she could leave all of that. And don't ask me why because you know the answer."
This is what Stein meant, thinking with my heart. If I'd listened to my head I would have known he couldn't, wouldn't do that to me but I let my old hurt get the better of me. Maka coughed out a sob in her throat, crushing it to just a whimper. She left that for me to find. She didn't have to know that was my weakness, just knew it would drive a wedge in any relationship. Now she's probably sure she has him. "What do I do? He won't even look at me."
"Well, that looked like a hell of a kiss, so I'm going to guess he's not over it yet," Black Star laughed as he finally sat back in the driver seat, giving Maka room to breath. "Look, I'll go back, talk him into coming to the apartment tonight, and then you do the rest."
"Could you… please, tell him it was all a mistake," Maka hated the begging quality in her voice but it quivered there anyway. "I should have known…"
"Cut that out," Black Star snapped. "Medusa's the best at fucking with anyone's head. You're not the first, so don't get all weepy and blame yourself. That's not the kind of girl I just saw bust into the pit and give my friend a run for his money, OK?"
"You're right." Maka cleared the tears from her face, the determination swelling in her chest again. "Get him to come home. I'll do the rest."
Soul didn't go back inside, just lingered in the shadows long enough for the two of them to disappear so he could sit on the ledge and give himself time to think.
She came here to save you, like some crazy rescue mission. That was stupid, idiotic, dangerous, but… she was smart. Changed her look. Didn't draw attention. Played a good part until she could get me alone. Then that kiss… He gave in to the temptation to pick apart that moment. The fear, disgust, and jealous he expected to taste there was absolutely missing, not even a hint of those odious elements. Her fingers were soft, feathery and her kiss made breathing seem useless because his lungs threatened to never work again. If that isn't love, if that wasn't, then she is the best actress in the fucking world.
He kicked his legs against the edge as a frustrated groan passed his lips. "OK, fine, I'll think with my head. Maybe just this once." After one more kick he dropped down, finally listening to the call in his head to go home to her.